Welcome 03.08.13

Calm winds and blue skies to you all and welcome to our website. Thanks for visiting. Essentially we are a Part M Airworthiness Organisation based on the route of HS2 looking after the Continuing Airworthiness of Hot Air Balloons. Here, apart from a wealth of technical and procedural stuff we have a growing list of interesting stuff that we hope will make you smile. We’ve been pretty busy sorting bits and bobs out for those that clattered off to Metz and then enjoyed a quiet week catching up on all the round-to-its. Tavistock was reported as being its usual convivial self and some great flying was had. Up north the Pennine Region’s Meets have been well-flyable and as a result that lovely Elaine Smith has put pen to paper and done a couple of reports on the White Horse gathering and one we’ll make every effort to attend next year, The Henge Meet. I’m all current again having forgotten to take me specs to my medical. It was with some incredulation that when asked to read this or that I said I couldn’t until I explained my error! Returning a couple of weeks later with specs this time all was well. Thanks to Dave Court for travelling the length and breadth of the country to do check flights. On a sadder note Tony Hill who used to fly the Charles Wells balloons has passed away. Please note this isn’t the same Tony Hill that flies for Skybus Ballooning in Kent and East Sussex. He is, apparently, fine and dandy.

Amongst the stuff to read this time round are the aforementioned Pennine Region reports and another lovely offering from Steve Roake all about this years’ Goodwood Festival of Speed and not a balloon in sight! On the Old & Rusty front Stumpy the Pilot discovered a rather grand old lady in Scotland which follows on rather nicely from Martin Cowling’s Gannet story. Meanwhile on the workshop front we have been busy inspecting however the workload is a tad quieter than usual but then again now that most of the UK ballooning community seems to have scuttled off to the Continent and there has been a bit of a lull in the calmer weather that’s not surprising. Accordingly the news is a bit on the thin side although this is the first update since mid July. We did have nice trip down to Hungerford to check out some envelopes for Pete Bish including G-BUVB which hadn’t flown since 1994 and is now being transitioned. We reckoned it was in very nice knick. There's a bit our trip and The Tally Ho! pub that Pete now has shares in! 'Ave a squint at Bishy, Balloons and The Tally Ho!

Following an offer to come and meet us at the workshop in the light of another impending pointless HS2 Ltd presentation for the good people of Wendover, good as his word our MP David Lidington turned up for a chat the other day. Sadly although he probably can’t save us from the impending bulldozers of HS2 Ltd he did rather give us a bit of hope and will raise our concerns. Currently we are still looking to move next year but its all a bit wait and see. A book, I’m sure, will follow! A new store for the bikes seems to be developing into a major subterranean undertaking which has already involved the use of a very big Kango and moving at least six tons of rubble. More on that to follow but there is always the chance of tunnelling all the way to The Swan. Its not just the CAA that does things in a bizarre way. Having issued me with a tax disc for me New Hudson back in February a thing called askMID told me it wasn’t legal as it wasn’t insured. Well it is. Have you ever tried to askMID? Makes the CAA seem very accessible! Thankyou for visiting. Please have a look round and enjoy a chuckle. If you want to get in touch please drop us a line. All the best Chris, Jane, John and Alice.